Part II: The Truth About the Utility Rates
1. Lee Posey’s decision to build Parc Natchitoches was fiscally irresponsible.
§ Posey rededicated water and sewer funds to build Parc Natchitoches.
§ When Posey decided to do this, the City of Natchitoches was under a mandate from the state to fix our aging water infrastructure.
§ Posey said we had “so much reserves” in our water in sewer fund, that he proposed rededicating 50% of the fund to other purposes in the April 9, 2016, election.
§ Posey was elected mayor on Mar 24, 2012. He served as mayor until August 2020. He never took the steps necessary to build an additional water treatment facility or to provide extensive improvements to an existing facility.
§ Posey should have prioritized water treatment above the creation of Parc Natchitoches.
2. Parc Natchitoches was not built properly and has not generated revenue for the city.
§ The City of Natchitoches filed suit on September 20, 2023, against the contractors who were responsible for the construction of Parc Natchitoches.
§ Construction problems with Parc Natchitoches include the following: slope erosion behind back stops, intensive slope failure behind the outfield, turf failure of the soccer field, potholes and asphalt erosion of earthwork throughout the park.
§ The City of Natchitoches budgets over 200-thousand-dollars annually to operate Parc Natchitoches.
§ The annual bond note, paid for by the rededicated water and sewer money, is 1.2-million-dollars.
§ Parc Natchitoches generated 125-thousand-dollars in 2023.
§ My administration has continued to support improvements and extensive maintenance of PARC Natchitoches. During my time in office, we’ve replaced cracked concrete, corrected various slope issues, hired an LSU expert to create a formula to enable the grass to grow, developed the dog park, and allocated 200-thousand-dollars for the completion of the playground project.
3. The Williams Administration completed rate studies and hosted Town Hall meetings throughout the City to be fully transparent about the rate adjustment.
§ Rate studies showed how much lower the City of Natchitoches rates were as compared to other similarly sized municipalities.
§ Studies also helped the administration determine the most modest adjustment possible as to not unfairly burden residents.
§ Town Halls were conducted throughout the city. The rate adjustment and plans to allocate funds from said adjustment were discussed in great detail.
i. Fund the construction of the new water treatment plant and the rehab of Plant #3.
ii. Stop the revenue loss that occurs annually with both our water and sewer operations.
iii. Support raises for ALL employees including public safety personnel.
§ Lee Posey did not attend any of the town hall meetings, not even the one held at MR Weaver Elementary School—a 2-minute drive from his home.
4. Lee Posey had already taken steps to raise utility rates in 2020.
§ Lee Posey signed a letter of intent with the Drinking Water Revolving Loan Program.
§ Money from the loan was going to be used to finance the City’s water infrastructure needs.
i. Remember, 50% of the water and sewer money was rededicated to build Parc Natchitoches. This rededication in 2016 created the need for the loan in 2020. Clearly, the money should have been left in reserves and used for its intended purpose.
§ Posey planned to raise utility rates by over 50%.
§ The cost to taxpayers of Posey’s Plan would have been over 39-dollars as an average rate for water and sewer.
§ Posey is claiming he will rescind the utility adjustment, however, Posey’s poor decisions made the adjustment necessary. He planned to do an adjustment in 2020, because the City cannot afford to fix our water infrastructure or fund our vital departments without the adjustment.
Posey says that my administration likes to boast about our accomplishments. I do like to brag about the wins my administration has been able to secure for our great City. For example, we secured a 5-million-dollar grant that reduces the burden of the City’s water treatment costs to residents.
We have been transparent and responsible. I was a political novice in 2020, but my passion for the City of Natchitoches propelled me into action. Posey is touting his experience as a positive. My experience with Lee Posey is that he has been untruthful time after time. He has said one thing and done another. He is promising to rescind the adjustment, while knowing all along his plan was to implement a rate adjustment years ago. He called our modest adjustment a burden, but his plan was to implement an adjustment that would have been DOUBLE of what our adjustment is. He continues to claim that there are 2 adjustments when he knows there is only one adjustment that we implemented over the course of 2 fiscal years. He continues to spread these mistruths. I do not want any more of the Lee Posey experience, and you should not either.
The Real Views Natchitoches 
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